'Supporters' blocking way to Godman Rampal, clear way for police; claim they were forced to stay

Hisar, Nov 18: In a twist in the Godman Rampal case, supporters are now leaving the ashram, claiming that they were forced to stay by the Godman and his followers. Naturally, his ardent supporters show signs of agitation and open fire from the ashram.

For the past one week, these men, women and children had formed a human chain outside the ashram in Haryana's Hisar, to protect the self-styled Godman Rampal from being arrested for a murder case. Many of them are now leaving.

One of the devotees, escaping from the ashram said,"Baba has locked people in and is not letting them come out. I had come here for the first time." Incidentally, these villagers were so scared that while running away from the ashram, some of them left their belongings in the ashram only. To the joy of the police and the SWAT commandoes, there has been a change in the attitude of the people since Monday.

Despite orders to arrest Rampal, the police is helpless as it is believed that some of his supporters inside the ashram are carrying deadly weapons. After Rampal failed to appear in court on Monday and did not respond to the third warrant issued by the Punjab and Haryana High Court yesterday, the police is planning to wait the godman out. Water and food supply to the ashram has been cut off any means of getting food or water inside has been blocked. The police have removed water tankers and trucks and buses that were providing diesel to run generators. '

The final nail in the coffin was when an elderly person revealed that they were called for a Satsang and were forced to sit outside in the chilling weather for several days.

The 63-year old spiritual guru was out on bail in 2006 for a murder case when one of his supporters opened fire on villagers, killing one and injuring several others. Meanwhile, a group of lawyers petitioned in court to cancel his bail plea after they were allegedly attacked by his supporters. Rampal has skipped court hearings 43 times since 2010.

The state government argued in court yesterday that he should not be arrested as he was not doing well. But, the judges did not budge from their decisions and said,"the will to arrest him is lacking."